Venezuelan opposition leader Guaido confirms his representatives will hold talks with those of Maduro government in Oslo next week
President Nicolas Maduro's government endorsed the talks and the opposition leader Juan Guaido has also confirmed that his representatives"will talk with both the Norwegian government and with representatives" of Maduro in Oslo.
"We reiterate our commitment to continue supporting the search for an agreed-upon solution between the parties in Venezuela," it said. Last week, opposition lawmaker Stalin Gonzalez and two advisors represented Guaido's side, while Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez and Miranda state governor Hector Rodriguez went to Oslo on behalf of the government.
In a speech at a pro-government rally, Maduro said, "We will legitimise the sole institution which has not been legitimised in the last five years."Talks in Norway this week with representatives of Venezuela's government and the opposition sought to "build a peaceful agenda" for the crisis-stricken South American country, Maduro said on Friday.
Guaido referred to the Norwegian initiative in remarks on Thursday, but said the opposition won't enter into any "false negotiation." He responded that he didn't "want to predict what can happen in what we know is a complicated situation, but what is clear is that the secretary-general's good offices, the United Nations' good offices, remain very much available."
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, told The Associated Press that police entered the embassy early Thursday morning to arrest the remaining activists. It was unclear whether they had been removed from the building. Members of Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress said on Wednesday that senior members of both sides will be involved in the discussions in Oslo.
Gustavo Tarre, Venezuela's representative to the Organization of American States, said that after the eviction notice was served, three activists left the building. Four remained, Tarre said. The exchange controls were imposed by Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, following an attempted coup in 2002.More than 50,000 Venezuelans have returned to the country thanks to a special homecoming plan, according to the latest data released by the country’s foreign ministry.
Ramon Rangel, who identified himself as an air force general, said the Venezuelan government is being controlled by the "communist dictatorship" in Cuba - a key Maduro ally. Guaido said Saturday that he's asked his ambassador Carlos Vecchio to open "direct communications" toward possible coordination.
Opposition leader Guaido addressed several hundred people who had gathered in the capital in support of his bid to oust the socialist president. The SEBIN intelligence agency seized Edgar Zambrano, vice president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, using a tow truck to drag his vehicle away with him inside.Venezuela strips lawmakers of immunity over uprising
The insurrection quickly petered out, though, and 25 rebel soldiers sought refuge in the Brazilian embassy. He called on the military "to be ready to defend the homeland with weapons in your hands if one day the US empire dares to touch this territory, this sacred earth."Opposition's Guaido will make a fresh bid to rally Venezuela's armed forces behind him with protests at military bases in the crisis-hit country.
In an interview with a small group of reporters, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Navy Admiral Craig Faller, commander of US Southern Command, flew to Washington to meet with him and other senior officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, President Trump's national security adviser.
The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict reported on Friday that Yonder Villasmil was killed during a protest in the northwestern state of Merida.Four other deaths were previously reported in protests rocking the nation after Guaido tried to spark a military uprising on Tuesday.The observatory said 58 people have died during protests so far this year.
"It's a crack that will become a bigger crack ... that will end up breaking the dam," the 48-year-old told reporters congregated outside the residence.He said that in recent weeks he's talked with majors in the Venezuelan armed forces who told him they are committed to Maduro's ouster. A small group heeded the call, but the movement failed to ignite – the military leadership ratified their support for the government, and Maduro is standing his ground despite international pressure.
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Thursday instructed police to detain Lopez for violating terms of his house arrest. He said Venezuela has become "a criminal state controlled by mafia and narco-traffickers" and it "will not come out of this without the use of force." The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said the dead from the unrest on Tuesday and Wednesday include two people who were shot in the city of La Victoria and two others hit by gunfire in Caracas, the capital.
"If you count up all that official representatives of the American administration say about Venezuela, then you can pose questions endlessly and to all these questions the answer will be, to put it diplomatically: it's untrue," he said. Spain has in recent years become a destination for thousands of Venezuelans escaping the country's political and economic crisis.President Maduro has called for military unity in an appearance with soldiers at the air base where Guaido called for an uprising two days earlier.
National Guard troops fired tear gas at stone-throwing protesters attempting to block a highway close to the air base in eastern Caracas where Guaido had tried on Tuesday to spark a military uprising against Maduro. Lavrov told Pompeo by phone that further "aggressive steps" in Venezuela would be fraught with the gravest consequences, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
“I am calling on the armed forces to continue their march in ‘Operation Freedom.’ Tomorrow, May 1, we will continue... across all of Venezuela, we will be on the streets,” Guaido said in a video message released on social media.Pompeo said on Tuesday that Maduro was ready to leave the country before Russia convinced him to stay.
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